


Darwin’s Confession

by peepeepoopoo33



Category: The Amazing World of Gumball
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Love, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-blaming, Therapy, Trauma, Wholesome, abandonmentissues, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29086851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peepeepoopoo33/pseuds/peepeepoopoo33
Summary: A lot of this fanfiction is inspired by "We Need To Have a Talk" by Supersinger9000 on ao3. It's one of my favorite tawog fanfictions ever it's just soooo sweet (and the only Darwin hurt/comfort fanfic I could find on the internet that I didn't write. Bravo.)
Relationships: Darwin Watterson & Gumball Watterson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Darwin’s Confession

**Author's Note:**

> Alt "The Bros" scenario.
> 
> Tw: Trauma, self blaming, guilt

It was a lovely afternoon in Elmore. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the air was clear, it was peaceful....and then there was the Wattersons house. Specifically the Watterson children's room. Gumball and Darwin have been arguing for hours now.

"Why are you so jealous!?"

"I am not jealous!"

"You clearly are! I'm sick of you denying it! Why are you so angry I have a girlfriend now!? I've had a crush on her my entire life, don't you want me to be happy?"

"Of course I do! I just want to be a part of it!"

"There's enough room in my life for the both of you!"

"You say that now but soon enough I'll be left to die alone as a failure!"

"Why are you so paranoid!?"

"Maybe because I don't want to be abandoned!"

"Just because I don't hang out with you 100% of the time doesn't mean I'm gonna abandon you!"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes I do! And so should you!"

"No....I don't want to be replaced all over again!!!!"

The room went silent. Darwin immediately covered his mouth, but it was too late. Gumball grew less angry and more concerned.

He can't possibly mean....

"I'm sorry, forget I said anything."

"What were you talking about?"

"It's nothing I swear! It doesn't matter!" Darwin mumbled into his hands. "Just...forget I said anything, ok?"

"But Darwin-"

"I have to go."

Darwin began to walk out of the room when Gumball grabbed his fins and looked into his teary eyes. "Darwin, are you ok?"

Darwin couldn't help it anymore. He burst into tears. "No.....I'm not."

Gumball pulled him into an instant hug. "Shhh, it's alright, I'm here..." Gumball said in a whisper. Darwin continued to sob for a little more before Gumball asked for conformation.

"When you said that.....were you talking about........"

"Yep. I was talking about the first day you got me."

Gumball had so many questions, though taking note of his brothers emotional state, he decided to take it easy. 

"How did you know we tried to..... you know"

"I saw it."

Gumball's eyes grew wide, beginning to fill with tears, and he covered his mouth. He couldn't believe this....he could only imagine how heartbreaking it must've been for him, especially because he's still sad about it now. Despite it happening years ago, Gumball began to feel guilty.

"Oh wow.......are you ok?"

Darwin simply shook his head as he whimpered.

"I-I thought you forgave us for that."

"Oh, Gumball, of course I forgave you....I guess I just.....never forgave myself."

Oh God. Could Gumball feel any worse for Darwin? Gumball put his hand on his brothers head and bent down to make eye contact with him.

"Dude....you do realize it wasn't your fault, right?"

Wasn't your fault. Darwin has spent years only listening to himself about this. Hearing someone, especially Gumball, telling him that it wasn't his fault for the first time felt so relieving, but he wasn't sold yet. Darwin shrugged.

"I wish I could believe that..."

"C'mon bro, let's sit down."

Both boys sat down on Gumball's bed. Gumball still had so many questions, he didn't even know where to start. Gumball wanted nothing more than to hug his brother, to tell him that everything was going to be ok and that he was safe, to reassure him that he was loved, but he still had so much more to find out. Gumball was worried he was going to have to pick one of his many, many questions to restart their conversation, but thankfully Darwin continued.

"I mean, I'm thankful for my legs and my lungs, I never would've gotten them if I've never been flushed, but seeing the family replace me was the most traumatizing experience of my life.... that's when I realized that even after all that, I failed.... I'm not good enough.......it's when I realized I was replaceable."

Gumball was shocked. He couldn't believe that the brother he've known and loved all his life felt like this.

"No, Darwin, none of that is true" Gumball spoke in a soft voice. "Please tell me you don't actually think things like that."

Darwin paused for a moment.

"Whole heartedly."

Darwin was looking away from Gumball, but Gumball could tell by his quiet and breaking voice that he was crying. It all made sense to Gumball now. Why Darwin was so intimidated by Penny. He saw her as that other fish. He thought that his replacement was inevitable so he panicked and lost control of himself. Gumball was starting to feel bad for yelling at him and calling him crazy and all that. There was just one thing Gumball still didn't get.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gumball asked his brother as he grabbed his fins making eye contact with him again. 

Darwin looked away without letting go of his older brothers hands.

"It’s just...you always have so much going on in your life. So much hardships and all that, I didn't want to add to that. I guess I didn't want to be a burden."

"Oh, Darwin, you're never gonna be a burden. It's like you only see yourself as a problem."

"Cause I am."

"No, you're not! You're way more than that! You're not a problem, you just have problems. Problems that matter. You deserve all the help and comfort you can get, and you really need it. I can't believe you kept it hidden for this long."

"It was....difficult, especially when I got nightmares about if you never found me in the parking lot, or you abandoning me."

"You get nightmares?"

"They're rare, but painful. Very painful."

Gumball lightly stroked Darwin on the head. 

"You really should've said something."

"I know, I know, but you heard me, I didn't want to be a burden. Plus, I was scared of how you'd react."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was just assuming the worst. Maybe you wouldn't care and would brush it off, or worse, tell me that I was right, that I was replaceable."

"Why would you think I'd say that?"

Darwin shrugged.

"I believed it, I thought you would too. Plus, I was scared you'd abandon me after finding out I was damaged."

"Damaged? You say that like you're an object." Gumball pointed out, concerned.

"Well.....I haven't exactly thought too highly of myself since it happened."

Gumball stared at him sympathetically.

"Dude, you should never be scared to tell me anything. I'll always be there for you, I love you."

Darwin hesitated before speaking.

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why? How could you possibly still love me after knowing that I'm still bothered by something that happened to me years ago? I'm being so stupid, I'm being so weak.....how could you love someone so weak?"

"You pulled through all of that when you were only 2 years old to get back to me and you still have the strength to tell me about it now. That doesn't only make you strong, it makes you the strongest person I know."

Darwin's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"C'mere"

Gumball spread open his arms and Darwin didn't hesitate to dive in for a hug. He was quietly sobbing into Gumball's sweater. Gumball wrapped his arms around him tightly and pat him on the head. 

"It's ok, I'm here. I'm here now." He whispered. It was like Darwin was hiding from his pain inside of Gumball's arms. 

"Gumball..." Darwin spoke between sobs. "I-I don't know what to do, for 8 years I've just wanted to forget about it by myself so I wouldn't have to bother anyone but I haven't forgotten a thing and- and now we're here and it's just- I just feel so helpless!"

"Shhhhhhh, you're not helpless anymore. You've got me and I'm gonna help you get past this no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes. I care about you, a lot, and I don't want you for a second thinking that you can be replaced."

Darwin didn't know what to say, so he just cried into Gumball's sweater some more. It went on like this for a while until Gumball spoke to his baby brother.

"You know, Darwin, ever since you came back that day I made a vow to myself to never let anything happen to you ever again. Since that day, it's sorta been an instinct of mine to protect you. I'd never hurt you, or abandon you, not for the world."

Darwin sniffed.

"You mean it?"

"Of course, dude."

"....thanks, Gumball. That really means a lot."

Gumball smiled at his little brother and wiped his tears before giving him some more head pats cause dammit he deserves them!

Darwin began to drift to sleep. All that crying took a lot of energy out of him. Before you knew it, bam. He noticed that Darwin was beginning to have a nightmare so he hugged him and Darwin calmed down again. Gumball hated having people sleep on him, but after hearing what he heard today he didn't want to leave Darwin alone, so he made a compromise with himself by carefully picking Darwin up and tucking him in. While still asleep, Darwin put his fins over the blanket and smiled, causing Gumball to smile back. Gumball sat at the foot of his bed in case Darwin had another nightmare. He began to think to himself.

Poor guy. He has a lot of emotional baggage and doesn't always want to talk about it. He might need professional help. Therapy maybe? But Mom would have to know in order to sign him up. I can't just tell her without him. I'm gonna have to convince him, aren't I?

Darwin's eyes fluttered and he gave the most adorable and tiny yawn ever. Gumball tells him about his thought process. It takes a while, but eventually he is convinced to tell Nicole about all this. An extremely nervous Darwin walks downstairs with Gumball to talk to Nicole. Nicole cries upon hearing this and hugs Darwin tightly. Gumball tells her about his idea (therapy) and Nicole doesn't hesitate to agree to sign him up. It didn't take long for him to get diagnosed with abandonment issues. The therapy slowly but surely helped him to recover. Nicole and Richard both whole heartedly apologized to Darwin for replacing him, and they were forgiven.

A few months later, Darwin's still traumatized and has abandonment issues, but each problem is way less. Darwin had never been happier.

"Gumball, I just wanted to thank you again for letting me talk to you a few months ago. I don't know how I would've gotten over it if it weren't for you."

"Anytime, buddy. I'm just glad you're happy."


End file.
